Madison Township man indicted in murder of Mentor-On-The-Lake bartender

MENTOR, Ohio - A man has been indicted in the murder of the Mentor-On-The-Lake bartender, who was killed in November.

Annie McSween, 49, of Mentor, was found dead in a wooded area behind Mario’s Lakeway Lounge the day after Thanksgiving last year.

According to the indictment, Joseph Thomas, 26, of Madison Township faces charges for aggravated murder. The indictment also includes death penalty specifications, alleging that Thomas killed McSween while committing other crimes, including rape and kidnapping, aggravated robbery.

He was arrested in June and held on $1 million bond. He did not enter a plea during his arraignment.

The owner of the bar, Mario Cacaic, when an employee at a nearby boat yard found McSween's body in a wooded area. The Lake County Coroner’s office said she died from multiple stab wounds, including one to her neck. The homicide was described as “a horrific killing.”

Caciac said McSween’s timecard was marked that she left work at 3 a.m. that night. The surveillance system was not working that day. Thomas’ landlord told NewsChannel5 that he was staying at her house at the time of the murder in exchange for doing household chores.

Months after her death, McSween’s daughter, Erica, died of an accidental drug overdose at her Mentor home.